I joined Meezan Bank as Credit Manager SME, before adding the word credit to my designation it was just "Manager SME" as it was the much familiar designation within Meezan Bank. Whenever I introduced my self as Manager SME, the next question was "Yeh SME Kya hota hai ?" (What SME means ?) and then I always had to explain the details. So, I ordered my visiting cards with the word Credit before Manager SME which was also my official designation as per HR and I found it a much familiar term among the business community. I wonder if we have developed an alternative term in Urdu for SMEs.
We are facing so many challenges and we should be ready so we can effectively tackle them rather than getting demotivated or discouraged by the response. The first para of this post shows the biggest challenge, the "language gap". The SME owner aka "Seth Sahab" do get impressed by the fine suit and tie, but to make them comfortable and speak from their heart, you have to make them comfortable by talking in the language they are most comfortable in. That is the key to the whole relationship, because when you make them comfortable to speak up, they would tell you all the stories and details about them and their business, and that is what you need the most in case of SMEs. These stories would tell you all the qualitative information you need which has the major weightage in case of SMEs. Although quantitative data is important, but qualitative data should be give more weight in assessing an SME client.
We are facing so many challenges and we should be ready so we can effectively tackle them rather than getting demotivated or discouraged by the response. The first para of this post shows the biggest challenge, the "language gap". The SME owner aka "Seth Sahab" do get impressed by the fine suit and tie, but to make them comfortable and speak from their heart, you have to make them comfortable by talking in the language they are most comfortable in. That is the key to the whole relationship, because when you make them comfortable to speak up, they would tell you all the stories and details about them and their business, and that is what you need the most in case of SMEs. These stories would tell you all the qualitative information you need which has the major weightage in case of SMEs. Although quantitative data is important, but qualitative data should be give more weight in assessing an SME client.
